What Did You Do With Your Kizashi Today?

Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:16 pm

bootymac wrote:Yikes. I'm glad it wasn't the oil pan!

Same, however the oil pan on the Kizashi looks rather tough and it doesn't hang too low. It's also covered by the undercover. I wish the flex pipe was protected though. I recall that my Subaru Impreza's flex pipe had a metal casing around it to protect it.

WESHOOT2 · Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:45 pm

Today I shoveled under my Kizashi after I high-centered it in my driveway on the new 20" of snow.

(I abraded my flexpipe some time ago and it's still not causing any issues.)

Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:03 pm

WESHOOT2 wrote: (I abraded my flexpipe some time ago and it's still not causing any issues.)

I believe you would have!
The flex pipes appear to have many layers of weave and the front portion seems to have solid metal underneath where the mesh begins. This is where most of my damage is from what I can see right now. Regardless, these things are not expensive. Generic ones look to cost under $15 but they have to be welded on after the old one is cut out.
If a flex pipe is damaged enough, they eventually wear out and tear from the engine's vibrations and movements. They then have to be replaced, but it's usually quite some time down the line.

SamirD · Sat Feb 15, 2014 1:06 am

KuroNekko wrote:Today, I finally drove my Kizashi in some real snow. We got several inches last night which gave me a snow day off work today. The roads are mostly plowed, but I wanted to see how my FWD Kizashi with the factory tires did on the snow. I found some unpaved parking lots and segments of poorly plowed roads to test it out.

To my delight, they do better than I imagined. I'm sure the AWD is a lot better, but I was happy to know the FWD Kizashi and the current tires would get me by okay in a few inches of snow.

However, while driving on untouched snow in a parking lot, I accidentally hopped a parking block that was completely covered by snow. It made quite a bit of noise so I knew I went over it. I should have been more careful about the edge of the parking lot, but I really couldn't see the blocks due to the snow's depth that completely covered them.

I immediately checked for damage and did not see any obvious signs on the wheels, tires, or side sills. I then checked under the bumper and saw that my flex pipe's mesh was a little frayed. I must have gone over the block with the center of my car. The plastic undercovers looked undamaged.

The car is not making any unusual noises so I think the flex pipe wasn't damaged much. I'll get under the car soon and check carefully when I install my LED DRLs as I'll put the car up on ramps in my work garage for that.

So lesson learned. Be careful about what's under the snow. I wasn't even hooning around carelessly. I was driving rather slowly to see how well the car drove on about 7 inches of untouched snow. In that regard, I was rather impressed. I just hope nothing was damaged too much.

Ouch!!

Our cars must really be twins--I just hopped a curb with it a few days ago.

I almost did this once doing the same in one of my Altimas. A friend of mine was next to me and yelled out 'curb!' in time for me to avoid it.

Did you feel it in the steering wheel at all? Or was it pretty much head-on?

SamirD · Sat Feb 15, 2014 1:10 am

I let my wife get comfy behind the wheel and set her memorized seat position to #1. We spent about 15 minutes in a snowy parking lot to get her used to some slipping as well as abs. She's never gone over about 60kph, so getting her comfortable with some of the things that can happen at higher speeds in snow was what I wanted to expose her to first.

Maybe we'll do some on-road driving tonight, but the city traffic is alive since it's 20 degrees and it's Valentines Day.

SamirD · Sat Feb 15, 2014 1:14 am

Ooo...I forgot to share this tidbit about the driving coaching. So she drives a manual rhd sx4 in India--and she drives it very well. But an automatic is completely new to her.

Her first question--what's this thing for? (pointing at the dead pedal). My answer--your replacement for the clutch.

Then I answered her seriously.

So I told her that the parking brake was on before she shifted and started moving. She looked at me and asked semi-sarcastically--now where is that? I replied--where is it in your sx4? She motioned to the center console and found it with her hand--then she had that 'you were right' look on her face--priceless.

Sat Feb 15, 2014 1:51 am

LEDs from DX arrived to my surprise. I wasn't expecting them until March based on prior experiences.

I've replaced the courtesy lights so far and thought I'd share some pictures

http://dx.com/p/t10-3w-144lm-6-x-smd-56 ... v7Dv_ldV24

murcod · Sat Feb 15, 2014 2:08 am

That's bright - 5630 LED's by the look of them? Mine are only lowly 5050's.

Sat Feb 15, 2014 2:33 am

murcod wrote:That's bright - 5630 LED's by the look of them? Mine are only lowly 5050's.

Yup. These are the ones I went with: http://dx.com/p/t10-3w-144lm-6-x-smd-56 ... v7Dv_ldV24

It's much brighter in real life but as with most lighting stuff, it's hard to capture on camera.

For reference, the stock W5W bulbs are ~50 lumens

SamirD · Sat Feb 15, 2014 6:42 am

Those look killer! I might have to start doing some lighting mods like this for the wife. At least that's what I'll tell her.